Minas Gerais Coffee Quality Competition 2024 is open for registration

Registration is now open for the 2024 Minas Gerais Coffee Quality Competition. Considered the largest in the country in terms of participation by family farmers, this year the competition celebrates its 21st edition and expects the registration of more than 1,5 samples. Those interested in participating must deliver the printed registration form to the offices of the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of Minas Gerais (Emater-MG) by September 06th. Participation is free, and more information can be obtained on the Emater website (www.emater.mg.gov.br/).

“Despite the climatic difficulties that producers faced in the last harvest, we believe that we will receive samples of excellent quality, thanks to the dedication of coffee growers. The state of Minas Gerais is now consolidated as the largest producer of fine coffee in the world”, says the state technical coordinator of Emater-MG, Willem de Araújo.

Producers from municipalities in Minas Gerais can register, with samples of Arabica coffee, type 2 to best (maximum four defects), harvested this year. Competitive coffees must also be passed through a 15 sieve (or above), with a maximum leakage of 5% and humidity between 10% and 12%. The crop from which the sample originated must be georeferenced.

Categories

The Minas Gerais Coffee Quality Competition has two categories and each producer can participate in only one of them. The first is Café Natural. In this system, newly harvested coffee is taken to dry immediately after going through a washing process.

The other category is Peeled, Pulped or Demucilated Cherry Coffee. In these types of coffee, after washing, the green and dry fruits are separated from the ripe fruits. Then, they pass through a peeler and continue to dry. In the case of pulped and mucilaged coffees, there is also a phase where the product passes through a fermentation tank.

Reviews

Competing coffees will undergo physical and sensory analyzes carried out by a judging panel made up of at least eight coffee classifiers and tasters. In the first stage of analysis, only coffees that obtain a minimum of 85 points will be classified, in accordance with the standards of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), an international reference entity in the sector.

The production of participating coffees will also undergo a socio-environmental assessment. The product will be scored on aspects such as the protection of springs on the property, preservation of riparian forests in water courses, among others.

The samples selected in the first stage will proceed for a new evaluation. The judging panel will classify the best of the two categories, in each coffee macro-region of Minas Gerais: Cerrado Mineiro, Sul de Minas, Matas de Minas and Chapada de Minas.

The closing ceremony of the competition will be in December. The state winners of both categories will be announced, in addition to the first placed in each producing region. The coffee grower who obtains the best score among the finalists and the coffee grower participating in the Certifica Minas Café program who achieves the best score will also be highlighted.

In 2023

In 2023, for the first time, a producer from the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte was the state champion of the contest. Farmer Mamédio Martins dos Santos, from the municipality of Sabará, surprised by beating competitors from areas with a tradition of growing specialty coffees in Minas Gerais.

The winning coffee in the competition achieved, in the Natural Coffee category, 91,7 points on a scale that goes up to 100, according to the methodology of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). The 2023 harvest competition had 1.563 samples registered.

The state champion coffee and the first and second regional places ended the 2023 competition with guaranteed sales to the Verdemar supermarket chain, in Belo Horizonte. Five 60 kg bags were purchased from each producer, which will be part of a line of specialty coffees, launched annually by the chain for sale to consumers.